Canadian company researching how to identify people by the way they walk

According to a recent report by CBC, Canadian research and development company ViTRAK is doing research to recognize people by their gait.

The company currently has a federal government contract to supply its gait analysis system, Stepscan, to three Canadian hospitals. According to the company web site, ViTRAK’s Stepscan gait analysis flooring system is being used by rehabilitation specialists at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto, Ont., the QEII hospital in Halifax and Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Hospital in Quebec to help assess mobility-impaired war veterans.

“What we’re doing here is collecting data for a research project that we’re working on,” said ViTRAK’s Patrick Connor. “And that is, we’re trying to identify people by the way they walk.”

For his gait recognition project, Connor is asking individuals to walk on sensor pads in front of a green screen, and is videotaping the results.

“The way that we walk is a lot like a fingerprint, it’s quite unique to each individual and quite consistent, but different between people,” said Connor. “We’re really looking at the underfoot pressures that you place as you walk across, so these things could be embedded inside a floor and recognize you. We’re looking to see if we can improve the state of the art, and perhaps even come up with a product that will be used in security operations.”